


Dirty Tapes

by StarMaamMke



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Gen, Mostly Fluff, jonathan is grumpy, not smut, porn is referenced but not described, will is an adorable smol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 17:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10723761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarMaamMke/pseuds/StarMaamMke
Summary: Jim invites Joyce and the Boys over to watch "Beverly Hills Cop". He thinks he's completely de-bachelored the pad, but ends up making one big oversight.





	Dirty Tapes

 

 

 

 

“Hey, Chief, why don’t we ever get to go to your house?” Will Byers asked before biting into a slice of pepperoni pizza. Joyce scoffed from across the table. Jim shot a glare in her direction, Will looked confused, Jonathan just shook his head. “What?”

“The Chief has a bachelor pad,” Jonathan explained patiently, covering his mouth with one hand to block the sight of food being chewed.

“Okay? That sounds awesome! Why don’t we ever get to go?”

Joyce folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, eyes to the ceiling, an amused smirk on her face. “What Jonathan means is that it’s not exactly kid-friendly, baby.”

“Hey! I have a VCR.”

Will’s ears perked at Jim’s defense. “What?! Mom, we don’t have one.”

Joyce sighed and rested her cheek against one hand, elbow resting on the table. Her brown eyes had a touch of melancholy. “I know. Your dad got that in the divorce.”

“Yeah, I know. You wouldn’t give him any of the movies, so we have all these tapes and no VCR. Chief, can we come over and watch tapes?”

Brown eyes met blue as Joyce and Jim both tried to gauge the other's’ feelings on the subject. Joyce had never been to trailer in their six months of semi-serious dating. Jim always just naturally ended up joining her in her own bedroom after dates and long days of helping out around the yard and inside of the house.  Joyce always regarded the trailer as his escape, the place he disappeared to when he was tired of his drab girlfriend and her two rowdy boys. It existed in the abstract.

“His place is probably a dump,” Jonathan speculated. Joyce leaned over and gave her oldest a quick swat on the arm.  

“Rude!”

“It is a little rough-going over there, Kid,” Jim confessed.

Will shrugged. “Mom left the clean laundry on the couch, and you’re still here.”

“Your mom works hard. Don’t insult the way she keeps house. You could fold laundry, you know,” Jim scolded, garnering one surprised look (Joyce), one irritated look (Jonathan) and one remorseful look (Will).

“Yeah, I guess. Can we come over, though?”

Jim steepled his fingers and pressed them to his lips, smirking as he studied Joyce’s expectant face. “I just got _Beverly Hills Cop_ , have you seen it?”

Will straightened up in his seat with a grin. “No! Mom, please, please, please. Dad said he was going to take us to see that when it was in theaters and he never did and all my friends saw it and–”

“Is that an invitation, Hop?” Joyce inquired with a tilt of her head, cutting off her ecstatic child.

Jim leaned forward. “Yeah, I suppose it is. I’ll even cook.”

“I can always bring a frozen pizza.”

“I said I’ll cook, Joyce.”

“I suppose that will be fine.”

__________

Jim could cook as long the recipe wasn’t terribly complex. Like his father before him, he was a bit of a grillmaster. The Byers family would have ribeye from the grill, and that was that. It only took him two hours to clean his ancient grill, cleansing it from the clinging refuse of Game Days Past. Satisfied that he wouldn’t give Joyce or her boys food poisoning, he set to the task of cleaning his house.

Beer cans were thrown into recycling, ashtrays cleaned, bathroom and kitchen scrubbed, windows washed, dirty magazines thrown and suspect video tapes were either returned to the video store or placed in a box under the bed. He even fashioned a makeshift slip cover for his couch out of two patchwork quilts. They wouldn’t even notice the duct tape holding the thing together. He really needed to buy new furniture.

Movie Day arrived, and Jim gave the three Byers the grand tour, grinning in his clean shirt and jeans as Joyce gaped at the immaculate picture he presented. On some level, he knew she was expecting a stale-beer-and-cigarette odor, streaks, stains and genuine disrepair, and the perceived lack of faith stung. It was nice to be able to prove her wrong.

Even Jonathan, ever critical of Jim and his new role in Joyce’s life, smiled as took the first bite of dinner. He said nothing, but his approval was evident and shining in his sharp eyes. Will was more effusive, stopping short of calling it the best meal he had ever had in his life. Joyce, never one to show public affection, took Jim’s hand under the table and pulled it to cover her knee before giving it an affectionate squeeze. He blushed and returned the gesture.

Dishes cleared, Will suddenly asked where the tape was. “On the coffee table, kid. I’ll set it up–” The phone rang. “Shit…”

“It could be work,” Joyce remarked as she headed towards the couch. Jonathan and Will settled on the floor in front of the coffee table and Will slid the tape over into his grasp to examine the case.

“Yeah.” Jim answered after three rings.

(Hey Jim, this is Emily from 5-A video.)

“Oh hey! Did I forget to bring anything back?”

There was an awkward pause, pregnant with tension. Jim vaguely thought that it might have something to do with the fact that he and Emily had once…but no that had been ages ago, there was no way she was still sore about that whole mess. (Actually, you did.)

“I’ll set it up, Chief! I still remember how,” Will chirped. Jim waved a hand at the boy and watched through his peripherals as he stood, tape in hand, eager smile on his face. Always eager to help. Goddamn good kid.

“Uh-huh. What is it? I have guests over but if you let me know, I can take a look around the house. Maybe we could waive the late-fee?”

( I would check your machine. You brought the case back, but it was empty. Umm. It’s from the black book.)

“Oh, there was already a tape inside!” Will’s discovery made Jim’s blood run cold. He had done so well up until this point and… “Hey, Mom, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this one.”

Jim hung up the phone and spun towards the trio; they were gathered near the machine, and Jonathan was smothering almost-raucous laughter while Joyce blanched and Will looked lost. “Is _Debbie Does Dallas_ any good, Chief?”

Jim stumbled towards Will, snatching the tape from the boy’s hands. “Uhhh… that’s a question for your older brother.” He caught Joyce’s gaze and tried his dead-level best to communicate how very, very, VERY fucking sorry he was. Mercifully, she smiled.

“Let’s just watch the movie, okay?” Joyce suggested in a thin voice. She put a hand on top of Will’s head and steered him towards his seat near the coffee table. “You are so nosy.” She settled onto the couch and didn’t object when Jim sat down next to her. She even snuggled against his side and rested her head on his chest when his arm went over her shoulders. She still liked him. He was a dog and a cad and a pervert, and she still liked him.

Two hours later, as she was herding her sleepy boys through the front door she paused and turned to him. Even in the obscuring darkness of the night, he could see that her face was burning red. “Yes?” he asked before she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.

“I suppose I wouldn’t mind coming back and having Movie Night. Alone.”

He beamed. “Okay?”

She gave him a pointed look, her eyebrows raising nearly to her hairline. “I mean, you know. With…” she leaned forward. “Different m-movies.” After she said it her gaze flew to the floorboards of his porch and her complexion deepened. He took brought his hands up to rest on her wrists, pulling her own hands away from her mortified face.

  
“You bet,” he whispered with a wink.

 

 


End file.
